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<title>a monthly ritual by boobop (smacklig_maltid)</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29209410">a monthly ritual</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/smacklig_maltid/pseuds/boobop'>boobop (smacklig_maltid)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>haikyuu shorts [15]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Light Angst, fluff...?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 06:07:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,250</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29209410</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/smacklig_maltid/pseuds/boobop</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kita has a monthly ritual entirely dedicated to you.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kita Shinsuke/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>haikyuu shorts [15]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1886323</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>41</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>a monthly ritual</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sun bled through his curtains as he stretched in his bed, giving himself a few moments to properly wake up before he began his day. He didn’t have to look at the calendar to remember that this was a special day - after all, today was going to be all about you, of course. Kita’s made sure to always take a day off the fields so he could give the whole day to you. </p><p>With one more stretch, he dove into his typical morning routine.</p><p>Make the bed, open up the curtains in his bedroom and living room, open some windows for some fresh air, brush his teeth, shower, use some muscle pain relief cream (<em>“Here, I got this for you - it’s good for muscle pain! You always look like you’re in pain after working the fields all day,” you told him, handing over the tube.</em>) and dry his hair. </p><p>This is where he deviates from the everyday routine. Instead of putting on his farming clothes, he opted for something much nicer - you deserve him in some nice clothes, of course, and not his old T-Shirt and baggy trousers that he uses for work. So he buttoned up his white shirt with the ghost of a smile on his lips as he remembered how you picked this shirt out for him a couple of years back before pulling on his black jeans and slipped on a pair of black shoes. As he left his bedroom, he glanced at the clock - <em>7:06. Ah, Tsunemori-san’s place should be open by the time he gets there, he thinks to himself. </em></p><p>Kita makes his way into the kitchen and picks up the basket that sat on the dining table and placed it on the counter, carefully placing some of your favourite fruits his grandma had asked him to bring for you today. Once he finished packing the basket, he grabbed his keys and wallet, double-checking that everything in the house was turned off and finally left.</p><p>He took a few seconds to admire the perfect weather and felt his heart flutter, oh how he knew you’d be happy to have this picnic with him on such a lovely day. The basket containing food was gently placed in the back seats so that he could grab another bag he left in the garage he had prepped the other day. He recounted each item, making sure that he wasn’t missing anything, and finally stepped into his car, dumping the other bag in the passenger seat. </p><p>After driving for 10 minutes through a seemingly endless field with a couple other houses where his neighbours called and waved to him from as he drove by, the town finally came into view. Kita slowed to a stop as he reached his first destination, rolling down his window when Tsunemori approached him with the bouquet of flowers he had ordered. Pink carnations and red chrysanthemums, neatly put together and tied up with a simple white ribbon - just as he always gets for you. </p><p>“Here you go, Kita-san. Is your grandmother not coming with you today?” Tsunemori asked, her eyes on the empty passenger seat. Kita gave her a quiet thanks as he grabbed the bouquet from her, shaking his head in response.</p><p>“No, she hurt her hip the other day while cleaning,” he explained while fishing his pocket for his wallet. Tsunemori quickly put her hands up to stop him, a kind smile on her face.</p><p>“No, no - Kita-san it’s quite alright. You don’t need to pay for these,” she told him. Kita frowned, looking back and forth between the middle-aged woman and his wallet, a little conflicted as to whether or not he should push it. “Please, just take them. I’ve plenty of customers, giving one bouquet away for free won’t be any trouble,” Tsunemori insisted.</p><p>“Oh, alright,” he gave in. “Thank you very much, Tsunemori-san. Have a nice day.” And with that, he waved the woman goodbye and continued his drive until he reached the centre of the town and parked not too far away from where he needed to be. He threw on the backpack and carried the basket in one hand and the flowers in another, crossing a few streets until he reached the park and nodded to a few other visitors he’d become familiar with from his countless visits. </p><p>It didn’t take long for him to finally reach your spot and he kneeled down in front of your gravestone, placing the flowers before you and setting down the basket to his side. </p><p>“Good morning, Y/N. Granny sends you her regards, she wanted to come today but sadly she’s bedridden right now because of a bad hip,” he talked to the gravestone softly, looking fondly at the picture of you attached to it, his chest tightening as he recalled your voice, trying his very best to imagine your response. </p><p>
  <em>Hey Shinsuke, it’s okay - I hope Granny’s okay!</em>
</p><p>Kita closed his eyes to compose himself and suck up the tears that threatened to fall. He doesn’t want you to see him crying, so instead, he allows himself to smile at the thought of you and begins his cleaning ritual. Shrugging the bag off of his shoulder, he swiftly unzipped it and unpacked it’s contents: a bucket, a brush, two towels, a scraping tool, incense and a lighter. Without much thought, he dove right into work. </p><p>First, he fills up the bucket at the nearby tap and sets it behind your gravestone. Then he soaks the towel, squeezing it over the rock to allow water to flow over the entire stone. After that, he gently wipes down all sides of the grave, clearing off the dirt and grime that’s formed over the month. Once he’s wiped off all he could with the towel, he sets the towel aside and begins scrubbing off the tough bits and the carvings of your name that the towel couldn’t reach, making sure not to be too rough. And if there’s any bits he still can’t scrub off with the brush, he starts using the scraper, carefully chipping off the dried bits of mud that somehow flicked onto your gravestone. For the second-last step, he pours the rest of the water over, washing off all of the dirt before finally drying it off with the second towel. Throughout the entire process he makes sure not to get his clothes wet or dirty, knowing that you’d probably scold him if he did. That, and he didn’t want to ruin the nice shirt you’ve picked out for him.</p><p>With the cleaning now completed, he leaves the tools to the side to dry and washes his hands so that he wouldn’t dirty the offerings. He takes out the fruits from the basket and places them in front of your gravestone, right next to the flowers. </p><p>Kita picks up the box of incense and pulls out a stick, lighting it up and placing it among the older ones. He murmurs a prayer for you with his hands clapped together, wishing you the best and expressing his care for you as he always does. Once he’s finished his prayers, he grabs the last fruit - you’d be upset with him if he didn’t at least eat with you. So he quietly munches on it, his calm, soft voice telling you everything that’s happened in the last month and updating you on how your old schoolmates are doing.</p><p><em>His special day, his special ritual, reserved just for you</em>.</p>
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